The man on a mission to bring baijiu to the UK masses
Jaded Dragon, the UK's first baijiu bar, opened its doors in Bristol this January to mark Chinese New Year. Eloise Feilden caught up with Benjamin Salguero, the bar's owner and a self-proclaimed baijiu expert, to hear why he is on a mission to educate the UK on China's national spirit. The post The man on a mission to bring baijiu to the UK masses appeared first on The Drinks Business.
Jaded Dragon, the UK's first baijiu bar, opened its doors in Bristol this January to mark Chinese New Year. Eloise Feilden caught up with Benjamin Salguero, the bar's owner and a self-proclaimed baijiu expert, to hear why he is on a mission to educate the UK on China's national spirit.
Five years ago Benjamin Salguero, who now runs two Bristol-based bars centred around educating UK consumers about baijiu, had never tasted the Chinese spirit.
Having worked in the industry for over a decade when he came to do his WSET Level 3 in Spirits, Salguero got what he calls a "reality check", realising that the level of knowledge he thought he had didn't even come close to what was out there.
Tasting baijiu for the first time, he experienced "flavours I'd never come across before". These were flavours he "didn't know could exist in alcohol completely naturally, with no artificial flavouring, no any essence of sugars or anything at all". It was an experience he found "mind blowing".
"The moment I tasted it, I remember sitting there and my mind was just racing with all these creative concepts of cocktails and things that could be done with it," he says
Now, those concepts have become a reality. Jaded Dragon opened its doors on 29 January 2025 to mark Chinese New Year.
The "party-style bar" is Salguero's second site in Bristol, and compliments the "sit-down speakeasy" feel of his other venue, Golden Crane.
The bar owner wants to break away from the more "stuffy" traditions typically tied to baijiu in China. Baijiu is usually consumed as a "communal drink when you go back to its origins," he explains. "It's about sitting around a table with food and doing ganbei shots with family and friends." However, "that style of drinking doesn't quite fit with the UK. We wanted to take it in a direction that was a lot more fun and vibrant."
Patrons range from Bristol University students to people in their 50s heading to the bar after having dinner nearby and intrigued by having an "unusual experience".
They like the edginess of going into a bar like this. We’re not as intense a party bar as, say, London Cocktail Club, with swinging lights and smashing ice against the ceiling and setting things on fire, but we’re still very lively, very fun, very much throwing a party," he says.
As for how knowledgeable customers are about Chinese spirits, Salguero has been shocked by the lack of understanding. "The average person has no knowledge [of baijiu] at all," he says. "I'm blown away that in this day and age, with all of social media and everything at our fingertips, it's so unknown."
Salguero says the spirit suffers from a "big chunk of misinformation", which is why its uptake in international markets has been slow.
If running two bars wasn't work enough, the baijiu expert is also writing a book on the spirit's history in China. Researching for the project, Salguero says, is like "sieving through sand". "There's so much wrong information that people are believing because they don't know any better," he says.
Of consumers who have tasted the spirit, their impressions usually leave much to be desired. "There'll be the odd person who has heard of baijiu or they've had one before," Salguero says. More often than not these patrons have tasted a baijiu which isn't up to par. "The general consensus in terms of those who’ve already experienced it is a complete lack of understanding of how diverse the flavours can be," he says.
"There’s no one flavour that really defines baijiu," and the work and re-education then comes down to "trying to convince them that it's worth giving other styles a try".
Salguero understands that not everyone shares his passion for the Chinese spirit, and the bar accommodates those whose heads he can't turn. Jaded Dragon serves 54 cocktails in total. Though its 12 baijiu cocktails are "front and centre", it also offers other spirits categories.
"As much as we are a baijiu bar and we are front and centre with that — our back bar is, if I do say so myself, really impressive to look at with 101 different baijius — as much as that’s what we do it’s not entirely who we are."
He explains: "You can come in and just enjoy other things until you're more comfortable to be willing to give this unknown spirit a try."
For patrons who are curious enough to brave baijiu, the bar serves everything from "Mojito styles all the way through to sours, to cocktails that use Marmite and cucumber".
Ming River and Moutai are Jaded Dragon's "house pours", but Salguero has managed to curate a collection which covers all the four major styles — Strong Aroma (Nongxiang), Sauce Aroma (Jiangxiang), Light Aroma (Qingxiang), and Rice Aroma (Mixiang).
He's even working to cover all nine of the wider aromas of baijiu, a task which has been "a little bit more challenging". Jaded Dragon's collection currently covers five out of the nine styles, and Salguero works directly with distilleries in China to get shipments over to the UK.
"The biggest issue is time," he says. "Getting shipments in takes anywhere between two to three weeks to two to three months, depending on where it's coming from in China," he says.
"In terms of being able to have regular stock, it's a lot of forward planning and a lot of conversations with the distilleries."
But reception from Chinese producers has been positive. "Everyone I've spoken to has been very excited at the idea of being able to break into the UK market," Salguero says.
Some of the bigger names in baijiu — the likes of Wuliangye and Kweichow Moutai — have doubled down in recent years on growing their international presence. Wuliangye announced in October 2024 that it would become global sponsor of the Michelin Guide for two years to raise its profile overseas. Kweichow Moutai opened its first baijiu store in Melbourne in 2023 amid rising demand overseas.
In the UK, Salguero says Chinese distilleries appreciate having their products in Jaded Dragon's back bar; rather than sat on a retail shelf or supplied to a private collector, Salguero and his team are taking baijiu and "putting it in guests' hands" directly. Combine that with education and a lively atmosphere, and you have a recipe for success.
"With the success of jaded dragon, even with it being so young, through the grapevine I've heard other owners of independents in the area talking about trying to get their head around baijiu," he says, showing the growing interest that his efforts have triggered.
He is confident that baijiu is getting ready to boom in the UK market.
"I think it's going to be the next big spirit," he says. "Agave, with mescal and Tequila, is having its heyday now, rums had a bit of a heyday before that. It makes sense that with these big bold flavours, this completely unknown category of alcohol in the western world is going to start emerging quite quickly."
Five years ago Benjamin Salguero, who now runs two Bristol-based bars centred around educating UK consumers about baijiu, had never tasted the Chinese spirit.
Having worked in the industry for over a decade when he came to do his WSET Level 3 in Spirits, Salguero got what he calls a "reality check", realising that the level of knowledge he thought he had didn't even come close to what was out there.
Tasting baijiu for the first time, he experienced "flavours I'd never come across before". These were flavours he "didn't know could exist in alcohol completely naturally, with no artificial flavouring, no any essence of sugars or anything at all". It was an experience he found "mind blowing".
"The moment I tasted it, I remember sitting there and my mind was just racing with all these creative concepts of cocktails and things that could be done with it," he says
Now, those concepts have become a reality. Jaded Dragon opened its doors on 29 January 2025 to mark Chinese New Year.
The "party-style bar" is Salguero's second site in Bristol, and compliments the "sit-down speakeasy" feel of his other venue, Golden Crane.
The bar owner wants to break away from the more "stuffy" traditions typically tied to baijiu in China. Baijiu is usually consumed as a "communal drink when you go back to its origins," he explains. "It's about sitting around a table with food and doing ganbei shots with family and friends." However, "that style of drinking doesn't quite fit with the UK. We wanted to take it in a direction that was a lot more fun and vibrant."
Patrons range from Bristol University students to people in their 50s heading to the bar after having dinner nearby and intrigued by having an "unusual experience".
They like the edginess of going into a bar like this. We’re not as intense a party bar as, say, London Cocktail Club, with swinging lights and smashing ice against the ceiling and setting things on fire, but we’re still very lively, very fun, very much throwing a party," he says.
As for how knowledgeable customers are about Chinese spirits, Salguero has been shocked by the lack of understanding. "The average person has no knowledge [of baijiu] at all," he says. "I'm blown away that in this day and age, with all of social media and everything at our fingertips, it's so unknown."
Salguero says the spirit suffers from a "big chunk of misinformation", which is why its uptake in international markets has been slow.
If running two bars wasn't work enough, the baijiu expert is also writing a book on the spirit's history in China. Researching for the project, Salguero says, is like "sieving through sand". "There's so much wrong information that people are believing because they don't know any better," he says.
Of consumers who have tasted the spirit, their impressions usually leave much to be desired. "There'll be the odd person who has heard of baijiu or they've had one before," Salguero says. More often than not these patrons have tasted a baijiu which isn't up to par. "The general consensus in terms of those who’ve already experienced it is a complete lack of understanding of how diverse the flavours can be," he says.
"There’s no one flavour that really defines baijiu," and the work and re-education then comes down to "trying to convince them that it's worth giving other styles a try".
Salguero understands that not everyone shares his passion for the Chinese spirit, and the bar accommodates those whose heads he can't turn. Jaded Dragon serves 54 cocktails in total. Though its 12 baijiu cocktails are "front and centre", it also offers other spirits categories.
"As much as we are a baijiu bar and we are front and centre with that — our back bar is, if I do say so myself, really impressive to look at with 101 different baijius — as much as that’s what we do it’s not entirely who we are."
He explains: "You can come in and just enjoy other things until you're more comfortable to be willing to give this unknown spirit a try."
For patrons who are curious enough to brave baijiu, the bar serves everything from "Mojito styles all the way through to sours, to cocktails that use Marmite and cucumber".
Ming River and Moutai are Jaded Dragon's "house pours", but Salguero has managed to curate a collection which covers all the four major styles — Strong Aroma (Nongxiang), Sauce Aroma (Jiangxiang), Light Aroma (Qingxiang), and Rice Aroma (Mixiang).
He's even working to cover all nine of the wider aromas of baijiu, a task which has been "a little bit more challenging". Jaded Dragon's collection currently covers five out of the nine styles, and Salguero works directly with distilleries in China to get shipments over to the UK.
"The biggest issue is time," he says. "Getting shipments in takes anywhere between two to three weeks to two to three months, depending on where it's coming from in China," he says.
"In terms of being able to have regular stock, it's a lot of forward planning and a lot of conversations with the distilleries."
But reception from Chinese producers has been positive. "Everyone I've spoken to has been very excited at the idea of being able to break into the UK market," Salguero says.
Some of the bigger names in baijiu — the likes of Wuliangye and Kweichow Moutai — have doubled down in recent years on growing their international presence. Wuliangye announced in October 2024 that it would become global sponsor of the Michelin Guide for two years to raise its profile overseas. Kweichow Moutai opened its first baijiu store in Melbourne in 2023 amid rising demand overseas.
In the UK, Salguero says Chinese distilleries appreciate having their products in Jaded Dragon's back bar; rather than sat on a retail shelf or supplied to a private collector, Salguero and his team are taking baijiu and "putting it in guests' hands" directly. Combine that with education and a lively atmosphere, and you have a recipe for success.
"With the success of jaded dragon, even with it being so young, through the grapevine I've heard other owners of independents in the area talking about trying to get their head around baijiu," he says, showing the growing interest that his efforts have triggered.
He is confident that baijiu is getting ready to boom in the UK market.
"I think it's going to be the next big spirit," he says. "Agave, with mescal and Tequila, is having its heyday now, rums had a bit of a heyday before that. It makes sense that with these big bold flavours, this completely unknown category of alcohol in the western world is going to start emerging quite quickly." 
